The US stars that the Emerald Isle has adopted as their own

Hollywood royalty Tom Cruise enjoys a pint of the black stuff at the Guinness Storehouse during his visit to Ireland
Photo by: Leon Farrell/ Photocall Irela

Many American celebrities have traced their roots and have found a nugget of Irish blood somewhere in their ancestry, at which point they are welcomed by the Irish with open arms and bombarded with invites to visit again soon.

Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons and Martin Sheen traced their Irish Ancestors through the program ‘Who do you think you are?’ while other celebrities like Daniel Day Lewis and Olivia Wilde already have their Irish citizenship.
Have a look at the following list of celebs who have been adopted by the Irish people:

Tom Cruise - The hollywood actor, who was recently presented with a Certificate of Irish Heritage by Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister, Eamon Gilmore, has Irish blood on both sides of his parentage. Cruise can trace his Irish roots back to the 12th century and is now an honorary Irishman.

Martin Sheen - Sheen’s mother, Mary-Anne Fieland, came from Borrisokane, in County Tipperary. The actor has a great love of Ireland and has even done a 15-week semester at the National University of Ireland, Galway, where he studied English literature, philosophy and oceanography.

Barack Obama - In 2011, thousands of Irish people turned out to see U.S. President Barack Obama get in touch with his Irish roots when he visited the small town of Moneygall in County Offaly where his maternal great-great-great-grandfather was born.

Daniel Day Lewis - Of Anglo-Irish descent, Day Lewis is an Irish citizen with strong ties to Ireland and has expressed his wish to retire to his Irish farm for five years after winning an Oscar for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln.

Michael Flatley - The dancer has ancestral Irish roots in Co. Carlow and Co. Sligo and is famous for opening the eyes of the world to the beauty of Irish Dance. He also lives in the historic Castlehyde House in County Cork.

Olivia Wilde -Wilde has dual citizenship in the US and Ireland and took the stage name ‘Wilde’ as a tribute to Irish writer Oscar Wilde. She spent her childhood summers in Ardmore, Co. Waterford and has said that she was greatly influenced by the time she spent in Ireland.

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick - Broderick spent his summers in Donegal as a child and the Hollywood couple now own a holiday home in Donegal where they enjoy some time out from the celebrity limelight with their children.

Ben Affleck - This hollywood star has Irish ancestry on his mother’s side from the west of Ireland and has said he would love to return to that part of the country to make a film. Angela Lansbury -Best known for her role as Jessica Fletcher in detective series ‘Murder She Wrote,’ actress Lansbury settled in Ballycotton, Cork and considered her Irish home a “sanctuary” for her family after a fire destroyed their Malibu home and her two children were threatened by the Californian drug culture. She is also part Irish as her mother and grandmother were both born in Belfast.

Lisa-Marie Presley - Believe it or not, Elvis’s great-great-great-great-grandfather William Presley hailed from Hacketstown in County Carlow. Lisa-Marie discovered her father’s Irish ties and has reportedly looked into buying a house there.

Jeremy Irons - The British actor has made his home in Kilcoe castle, County Cork, and discovered through BBC 1’s ‘Who do you think you are?’ program that his great-great-great-great-grandfather David McCreight owned a linen mill a mere 20 miles from where he now lives.